Leather stiffener for the heels and toes of boots and shoes



F. C. WEICHELT ET AL LEATHER STIFFENER FOR THE HEELS AND TOES OF BOOTSAND SHOES Filed Dec, 16, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet,l

Dec. 20, 1927'. 1,653,075

In wen +0 7.5

A} Wa $4M Dec. 20, 1927.

I 1,653,075 F. C. WEICHELT ET AL LEATHER 'STIFFENER FOR THE HEELS ANDTOES OF BOOTS AND SHOES Filed Dec. 1a. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 t -+-----a-1 so Patented Dec. 20, 1927.

testers f was erases e Are-as esrfi ce, I

FREDERICK CLAUDE 'WEIC HELT AND BERG? sale-E1, Teeaemi, oemesmisr,,Viiq- TORIA, AUSTRALIA, Assrsnons or onn-rountrzrro ra rzr n :eL ze ErrI WEICHELT,"

OF PBESTON, VIQTORIA,;AUSTRALIA, AND ROBERT I-IOFFEB, WOODCOCK, DANDE- INONG, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA.

LEATHER STIFFENER non THE HEELS ANT) mess on Booms AND SHOES.

Application filed December 16,1525. ,ser'iain {755841;

edge of said stiit'eners to form a bevel orfeather edge. The object ofdan'ip'ilig the leather blank before skiv'ing it is to facilitate theskiving operation and to maintain a sharp edge on the 'skiving knife. In

order to utilise said 's'tifi eners in the manut'acture of boots andshoes, the operator has first to soak them in Water tor from ten minutesto half an hour, according; to the hardness ofthe leather,to "renderthem sutliciently pliable to enable him to fit and'secure suchstiffeners in pos tion on the heel and toe respectively 'ota booto'rf'shoe. This operation takes time, and is even then'trequentlyunsatisfactory, owingto the chiliculty, of making said stiileners fitsnugly in position on the heel andtoe of the boot orsh-oe. After thestitfeners' have been fitted as aforesaid, they must be allowed "to drybefore the making of the boot or shoe can proceed, thus entailingfurther loss of time. The object of this invention is to provide Isti'i'leners which only -requ1retheir lower portio'n'to be clipped inwater for from tensesends to not more than one minute,according to thehardness of the leather, instead of the whole being soaked in water tortrom ten minutes to'ha'lt an hour, as at present, before they can beutilized by the operator, and which when removed. by him from the water,can be easily and quickly applied to theheel and toe of a boot or shoe,andwhich, when applied, will fit snugly in position without,

difliculty, and dry quikly. I 7 'Our improvement in leather stiffener-sof tlie'type described for'the heels and toes'ot' boots and shoesconsists of a series of equally-spaeed incisions through the skin or,

outer surtace of the stifiener at its lower marginal skived edge, saidincisions extend jing from endto end of said skived portion, and inwardsthrough said skived portion, at approximately right angles to 't'heloweredge of said skivedportion. In the case of stif- 'f ene'rsffor the-heelsof boots and shoes, these incisions'eXt-end i'n aliorizontaliline fromend to end of the lower marginal edge he tore r'eterred to, whileyin thecase 0t stitfeners for the toes of boots and shoes, they extend normallyfrom end to end of the lower marginal edge before referred to.Stiileners made according to thisflinvention only require their lowermarginal edge, haying the incisions therein, to "be clipped in ater bythe operator for from "ten seconds to not more than one minute, asbefore explained,

the incisions permitting the Water topercostiffener, with the resultthat a perfect seating'is formed -for'the foundation ofthe boot or shoe,the incisions before referred to assisting materially in elfecting thisresult. It will be obvious that stiileners-embodying the improvementbefore described, 'can be made of much stouter material than is possibleat present, thus rendering-the boot or shoe, -to which they'ar'e'applied, more durable. As

practicallytonly the feather edge portion in which theinci'sionsare made1s wetted, the

stiffener-soon dries and *litlile' delay occurs in the manufactureofthebootor shoe.

The incisions'in the stiffener-s may be made in any approved111L1111G1','l)l1trW6 pi'elt'eiyto makethem with the aid of apparatus'which we have invented, and -which*will hereinafter be fully described,and illustrated. 'Ihis apparatus forms the subject of an application forLetters Patent'filed by us contemporaneously herewith. p

Referring to the drawings "hereto attached 1 isa' view in of a leatherblank usually employed for the manufacture of a stiffener {for the heelportion of a boot or shoe. I y

Fig; 21is a sectional View taken on lines' Fig. 3 is -a View in plan ofthe loathed stiffener seen in'Fig; 1,'after'thesfame has "late freelythrough the skived and feather edge portion ofthe stiftenerytherehy"rem-" been sk ived, in theordinarymanneiy and" the heel or seatportion.

Fig. 7 is a view in plan of a leather blank to form a stiffener for thetoe of a boot or shoe.

Fig. 8 is a sectional View taken on line cc of Fig.7.

Fig. 9 is a view in plan of the toe stiffener, showing theequally-spaced and approximately radially. arranged incisions therein.

Fig. 10 is a sectional View taken on line d-ml of Fig. 9. c

Fig. 11 is a view in side elevation of the apparatus we have invented,and prefer to use for making the incisions in the heel and toestiffener-s illustrated in Figs. 3 and 9 respectively. 7

, Fig. 12 is a view in plan of Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a view in front elevation of the apparatus showing thearrangement of the feed plate and the cutting and feed rollers.

Fig. 14 is a sectional view illustrating the means employed foradjusting. the position of the'lower located feed roller.

Fig. 15 is a view in side elevation of the feed roller employed to feedthe heel stiff veners illustrated in Fig. 3 to the apparatus, in orderthat the necessary incisions may be made therein.

Fig. 16 is a view in side elevation of a feed roller having a bevel edgeto make the necessary radial incisions in the toe stiffener illustratedin Fig. 9.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 6, 1 is the leather blank, which, after beingcut in the ordinary manner to the required shape and size to form astiffener for the heel or toe of a boot or shoe, is subsequently passed,as at present,

fect-ively trim the lower marginal edge of through a skiving machine inorder to efsaid blank to form a bevel or feather edge 2. For thispurpose, as already explained, the leather blanks, as is customary, aredipped into water, so as to facilitate the skiving op erationand tomaintain a sharp edge on the skiving blades or cutters. 3 are the seriesof equally spaced incisions, which constitute our invention in leatherstiffeners for boots and shoes, and which incisions are formed in theblank 1 after it has been cut to the required shape and size. Theseincisions are preferably made with theaid of the apparatusillustratedin, Figs. 11 to 16, and extend through the skin or outersurface of the It will be understood that the manufacture of thestiffener 1 for the toe of a boot or shoe is carried out in the mannerherein described, with reference to the manufacture of require furtherdescription.

The apparatus for forming the indentations or incisions 3 in the heeland toe stifl' oners l and 4., comprises a cast metal base 5 on which isformed or secured apair of integrally formed bracket members 6, on theupper ends of which is formed a comparatively long bearing boss? inwhich is revolubly mounted a main driving shaft v8. Fitted onfthe outerend of the main driving shaft 8 is a fast pulley 9 and loose pulleys theheel stiffener 1, and therefore does not 7 9*, to receive a powertransmission belt (not shown) from any suitable power source. A toothedwheel 10 fitted on the outer end portion of the main driving shaft 8meshes with a similar wheel 11 that is keyed or otherwise fitted on theouter end portion of a lower located shaft 12 which is revolublysupported in an elongated boss 13 formed on the outer end of a bracket14.. This bracket is pivotally carried on a pin 15, rigidly secured byset-screw 16, in bosses 17 that are formed on the brackets 6. Detachablyfitted on the forward end of the main shaft 8 is a cutting wheel18having \l-shaped'teeth 19 adapted to form the incisions 3 in thestiffeners 1 and 4 in the mannerhereinafter described. The shaft 12 islocated in vertical central alignment with the main shaft 8, and,detachably fitted on the forward end of said shaft 12, is a feed roller20 which is adapted to feed the stiffener blank under the cutting wheel18 and also function as a presser roller. The Width of the space betweenthe cutting wheel 8 and the feed roller 20 requires adjusting to suitthe varying thickness of the stiffeners that are being manufactured. Forthis purpose, the gear wheels 10 and 11 have comparatively long teeth toprovide for adjustments within certain limits. The width of the spacebetween the cutting wheel 8 and the roller 20 isregulated by means ofadjustment screws 21, which are screwed into the 'baseportion 5 of theapparatus and adapted to bear against lugs 22 depending from the bracket14, on

which is formed the elongated boss 18 car- I rying the shaft12. Theadjustment screws 21 are fitted with lock nuts 23, adapted to betightened against the base 5, so as to prevent accidental movement ofsaid screws.

To prevent any upward movement of the bracket 14 when the feed roller 20has been set to the required position, an adjusting screw 24 is screwedthrough a lug 25 formed on the bearing boss 7 which revolublysupportsthe main shaft 8. This adjusting screw 24: is adapted to bear upon a lug26 formed on the elongated boss 13, and thus prevent any accidentalupward movement of the feed roller 20 during working operations. A guideplate 27 is fastened'on the outer end of a short rod 28'which isadjustably fitted in a split lug 29 formed on one of the bracket members6 and is rigidly held in position therein by a clamping bolt 30; Thisguide v plate extends transversely across the apparatus and it passesbehind the cutting wheel 8 and forms a limit stop for the stiifeners asthey are being passed through said apparatus. A feed table 31 isadjustably fitted to the front of the guide plate 27 to support theleather stifieners as they are being successively fed into theapparatus. This feed table is capable of vertical adjustment-to suit thevarying thickness of stiffeners required for the manufacture ofdifferent classes of foot-wear. For this purpose the feed table 31 issecured in position to the heel stifi'eners 1 under the cutting roller8;

but, by reason of the toe stiffener having the indentations or incisions3 formed normal with respect to the periphery of the blank, it isnecessary to provide a feed roller 20 having a bevelled surface seen inFigs. 11 and 16. h

In the operation of forming the indentations or incisions 3, in the heelstiffener 1,

the roller 20, having a perfectly flat surface, is fitted on the end ofthe shaft 12. The stiffener 1 is placed on the feed table 31 with itsstraight edge in abutment with the guide plate 27. The stiffener is thenpushed forward until it is gripped between the cutting roller 8 and thefeed roller 20, when the rotary motion of said rollers willautomatically carry the stifiener through the apparatus and cause theincisions 3 to be made through the skin or outer surface ofthestiffener, approximately at right angles to the lower marginal orstraight edge of the same.

In forming the incisions about the lower or curved marginal edge of thetoe stiffener,

the bevel edge feed roller 20 (Figure 16),

is substituted for the roller 20, and the curved edge of the stiifenerfis' maintained in contact with the guide plate by the operator, untilthe whole of the incisions 3 have been formed, and normal with respectto the periphery of the blank, as illustrated in Fig. 9' of thedrawings;

We claim I 1. Leather stiffeners for the heels and toes of bootsand'shoes, provided with a series of equally-spaced incisions onlypartially through the stiffener at its lower marginal skivedfcdge, saidincisions extending from end to end thereof, and inwards partiallythrough said skived portion, .at approximately right angles to the loweredge of said skived portion, as and for the purpose described.

2. Leather stiifeners for the heels of boots and shoes, provided with aseries ofequallyspaced I horizontally arranged incisions through onlytheskin or outersu'rface of the stlfiener at its lower marglnal skivededge,

said incisions extending from end to end thereof and inwards partiallythrough said skived portion and at approximately right angles to thelower edge of saidskived portion, as and for the purpose described;

3. Leather stiffeners for the toes of boots 3;

and shoes, provided with a series of equallyspaced and approximatelynormal incisions only partially through the stiffener at its lowermarginal skived edge, said incisions extending-from end to" end thereof,and ,in-

wards partially through said skived portion, and at approximately rightangles to the lower edge of such skived portion, as and for the purposedescribed.

FREDERICK CLAUDE WEICHELT.

PERCY SAMUEL TURNBULL.

